Ralph Ellison Quotes
Quotes to Explore
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Violence is literally the glue of the cycle of life, and yet I think that we're the only species that does it maliciously.
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When in life do you get a black and white printout that says this is what you should do? It just doesn't happen.
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It's much easier for me to make major life, multi-million dollar decisions, than it is to decide on a carpet for my front porch. That's the truth.
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Never met Levinson. Ever. He directed those American Express spots for us for Seinfeld, and I was off on some guest spot that I didn't even want to do... and I got talked into doing it.
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I really feel that the best actors out there are very centric. They're really connected. They're not in a, 'What about me' state, and I think that's a good lesson in life.
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I know I am extraordinarily lucky to be doing what I am doing. I have worked hard along the way and I have been blessed too. I have had a great life.
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Even when I get to the point where I am acting and performing, where I want to be with my career, I'm never going to think of anyone as lower than me. Everyone's the celebrity of their own life, you know?
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Cooking for people is an enormously significant expression of generosity and soulfulness, and entertaining is a way to be both generous and creative. You're sharing your life with people. Of course, it's also an expression of your own need for approval and applause. Nothing wrong with that.
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Nobody's going to give you everything on a silver tray. It's going to be difficult.
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The game of life is a game of boomerangs. Our thoughts, deeds and words return to us sooner or later with astounding accuracy.
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That was really cool. I got to kiss a little boy. I was 7 and he was 10, and his name is Thomas Curtis. He was the first boy I've ever kissed in my entire life and he was three years older than me.
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The inertia of the governed cannot be disentangled from the indifference of the government. American leaders have both a circular and a deliberate relationship to public opinion.
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He who has so little knowledge of human nature as to seek happiness by changing anything but his own disposition will waste his life in fruitless efforts.
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The biggest accomplishment, in racial terms, for Barack Obama was being elected. He had to overcome his blackness to be elected. He climbed the Mt. Everest of American politics, becoming an historic first.
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And a tiny number of people in a few states make these decisions, and we're left with these options that are increasingly not attractive to the American people.
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To let the people know there was life beyond Shirley Dean, we decided to focus on voter registration; each day I set up my card table somewhere in the district, signed people up, and passed out noses.
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The state of New Jersey is really two places - terrible cities and wonderful suburbs. I live in the suburbs, the final battleground of the American dream, where people get married and have kids and try to scratch out a happy life for themselves. It's very romantic in that way, but a bit naive. I like to play with that in my work.
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My whole musical life has been an educational process, and I'm just furthering my education and filling in the blanks. There's stuff that I want to know that I don't know.
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Respect all manner of men regardless of their station in life. Compassion is one of the greatest virtues.
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My music is definitely very personal. The songs are about moments, snapshots of everyday life, and about having one's say, or at least feeling like one has had one's say.
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I still think of that guy I was without a wife or kids, and I still want to entertain that guy. The lonely guy, the frustrated guy, the guy with no money - this is the guy who needs to laugh.
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Harry Potter is one boy in a long line of mythical heroes who have reminded the human race that we are so much more than we think we are, so much more powerful than we seem to know. Jesus said that we would someday do even greater works than He; should we not take Him at His word? And should not 'someday' be today? It's time for us to start working miracles, if indeed we have the capacity within us to do so.
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To ensure prosperity here at home and peace abroad, we all share the belief we have to maintain the strongest military on the planet.
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When American life is most American it is apt to be most theatrical.
